Airmen Air Marshal AP Singh is the head of Air Force. File | Image source: ANI
Air Force Chairman Marshal AP Singh said on Friday (28 February 2025) that the Indian Air Force needs to add 35 to 40 fighter jets each year to fill the shortage. He added that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) promised to produce 24 Tejas Mark-1a jets next year.
He said while proposing self-reliance, he said the promised productivity is not enough and it is necessary to find options to fill the gap. In this regard, air leaders demand greater private sector participation.
In related comments, Samir V. said the Defense Minister announced 2025 as the “Year of Reform” for the Ministry of Defense, and the most important reform will be to speed up the acquisition cycle. “The Secretary of Defense is the one who is dealing with this issue, and I’m sure we will have a faster acquisition cycle by the end of the year.”
“We need to add two squadrons a year, which means we need 35-40 aircraft a year. Capacity cannot appear overnight… HAL promises to produce 24 Tejas Mark-1a jets next year, and I’m happy with that. “This goal is not impossible.” ”
“We can get 12-18 planes from private participation every year…I can swear I won’t buy anything from the outside. However, when it comes to numbers, we’re in a bad situation. The promised numbers are slow and need to find something to fill those gaps.”
The IAF is currently in the 31 fighter squadron, while the approved 42.5 squadron is in the strength of. Despite delays in delivery of the light fighter-MK1A, several existing fighter jets – Jaguar, Mig-29upg and Mirage-2000 – will also be eliminated at the end of this decade.
Regarding the possible force structure of the IAF by 2047, the Air Responsible Team did not predict the main differences in the platform, but said that “this technology will obviously change.” “I foresee that we will have all aircraft for at least over 4.5 generations. The easiest aircraft we will have will be a gust or an upgraded Su-30. All other aircraft will be better than that. In terms of communication networks (the “OP” network we use), there will be interoperability in terms of ground forces, army and sea forces. We should be able to talk to each other, transfer data, transfer targets instantly. That’s my vision.”
In further detail, Marshal Singh, the air director, said that the IAF will be a greater force in terms of enablers and technology. “We want to be on par with everything around the world.”
He said India hopes to be a force in aerospace by 2047, adding: “We have always had an interest in space. Our push is in space, such as GPS, Communications, etc. We have taken a step towards educating our people more in space.”
He said that emphasising support for indigenization, he said that indigenous systems were their priority. “Even if we can get 90% of the indigenous technology of foreign platform capabilities,” he said, adding that in order to maintain prolonged conflict, we must also be able to ensure a stable supply of weapons and equipment.
Failure in R&D
Dr. Kamat presents important challenges in research and development, pointing out that the risk of failure is high for cutting-edge R&D and investment in new technologies. In our country, the private sector lacks a risk appetite, he said, underscoring that the Finance Minister announced 25% of the DRDO budget would be used to fund R&D funds in the private sector and academia.
“How we deal with this failure will be the most important reform we need to do. To do this, we need a separate chapter of the Government Financial Rules (GFR), which allows failure. The current GFR treats R&D as an acquisition. If I give you money, you have to give me something,” he said at the Business Standards Conference on Thursday. He added that the government has understood the issue and has set up a committee to look at how to change the GFR or add a chapter so that failures in R&D can be handled.
publishing – March 1, 2025 01:19 IS
